Truck-kun Turns Vehicular Mayhem Into A Game
Let’s be honest with each other for a minute: We all spent far too much time running over pedestrians in Grand Theft Auto, right? For many of us, we grew out of it, and instead focussed on other aspects of the game, like the missions, or the ladies of the night.
The running over of pedestrians is hardly a primary game mechanic. But what if it was?
It may not look even remotely similar to GTA, but Truck-kun is Supporting Me from Another World?! has you doing just that, causing absolute destruction in the name of progression.
Truck-kun is Supporting Me from Another World?! is an isekai anime inspired game. You play as a humble delivery driver who accidently runs over a pedestrian. Said pedestrian is Carissa Ward, who, rather than accept her fate, returns to torment you as the driver. You are forced into causing wanton destruction and vehicular manslaughter to help Carissa level-up in another dimension. Why? Because the Skeleton King has a Scroll of Resurrection that will help Carissa return to the real world.
If all that sounds weird, then let me tell you that the developer for this is Strange Scaffold. Once you recognise their previous titles such as An Airport for Aliens Currently Run by Dogs and Creepy Redneck Dinosaur Mansion 3, it all seems pretty much par for the course.
Outings, Objectives And Plenty Of Destruction
Whilst you are busy digesting the ethical implications of causing mass murder to save one life, you are no doubt already halfway through your first run. Referred to as ‘outings’, each time you load up you are placed at a random spot on this open-world map. In the top right corner of the screen are three objectives to complete, and these should be your primary focus. Completing these gives you time bonuses and stars. Stars are the main form of progression in Truck-kun; collecting enough of these will ultimately lead to your final objective.
Another way to earn stars is by defeating various enemies as Carissa. At the bottom of the screen is a window with Carissa facing off against waves of enemies in a 16-bit style. Enemies are generated by ploughing through pedestrians, but can only be attacked when Carissa’s power bar is full. This is filled by smashing into literally everything else. Then finally, a quick toot on the car horn will see Carissa rip through her foes, draining their health bars. It’s fun to see a whole army of enemies dispatched in one sweep of a sword, and doesn’t distract you from driving around the wider world.
The open-world itself is fairly condensed, allowing you to memorise quickly where pockets of objects are. Should you need to crash into parked cars or outdoor furniture, the world is designed to allow you to quickly reach your destination.
There are also deliveries to pick-up and deliver too. For some reason, even with a death count into the thousands, you still need to do your day job.
The Same Carnage Starts To Wear Thin
But between the objectives and deliveries, there is very little else to do in this open world. After just a few outings you will have likely seen the entire map and seen more than a few repeat objectives popping up. The problem is, these objectives feed into larger milestones, and only by completing these can you progress the story. The milestones appear on your results screen after a run has ended, but some of them feel unnecessarily bloated in order for you to complete them.
But I did still find myself thinking time and time again, “oh go on then, one more go”. Even with a lack of variety in the gameplay, causing absolute carnage is still pretty fun.
Technical Problems Add To The Mayhem
Truck-kun is far from perfect though, and more than a few bugs pop up. Firstly, when you start earning enough stars, you generate heat that causes the police to track you down. These can easily be destroyed by shunting to the left or right where they appear. However, every time you do so, the frame rate stutters for a couple of seconds. Not just the odd time, nearly every single time.
And then more generically, the car you drive is pretty unresponsive at times. It’s very arcadey in its gameplay, seemingly allowing you to drift endlessly, as opposed to a simulation. There are times however, where changing from forward to reversing just doesn’t work. Instead, you are required to press the corresponding trigger multiple times just to get moving in the desired direction again. It all adds to the mayhem, but when needing to arrive at a particular point to deliver a parcel, it can be frustrating.
Truck-kun Is Fun, Weird And Ultimately Repetitive
Truck-kun is Supporting Me from Another World?! isn’t the longest game in the world, but even then, it can feel unnecessarily padded out. It is fun in small doses and even when the itch to have just one more go comes, you will end up in a repetitive state performing the same bouts of mayhem again and again.
Truck-kun is Supporting Me from Another World?! is weird and unique for sure, but superficial at the same time.
Important Links
Truck-kun is Supporting Me From Another World?! Crashes Onto Xbox And PC In The Year’s Weirdest Launch – https://www.thexboxhub.com/truck-kun-is-supporting-me-from-another-world-crashes-onto-xbox-and-pc-in-the-years-weirdest-launch/
Buy from the Xbox Store – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/truck-kun-is-supporting-me-from-another-world/9n34tkm8zshd
